User blog:BlizzardDragon/RWBY Villains: Are they "Good" or "Bad"?
NOTE: By "Good" and "Bad", I am not referring to the morality of the villains, I am referring to the quality of the villains. Also, this is all my opinion, so you can take this with a grain of salt if you so desire. We are currently one episode away from the midseason mark of Volume 5, and I was thinking to myself: "RWBY has an interesting ensemble of villains.", but then I thought, "How many of the villains are actually of good quality?". So I decided to perform an analysis of each villain shown in RWBY so far. Keep in mind that with several of these villains currently active, the final verdict can easily change, but for now, this will be my verdict. I am also not covering Salem, Tyrian, Hazel, Watts, or the Albains, as they have barely had any screen time in comparison and as such it would be unfair to judge them now. So consider this part 1. Now, to determine whether or not a villain is of quality, I shall be using three criteria when analyzing them, the three criteria being, in my opinion, what makes a good villain: 1. Intimidation: Villains should be intimidating. When they come on screen, the mood should immediently turn darker, you should fear what they can do, and you should be scared. 2. Entertaining: A villain should be frightening, but you should also be able to draw enjoyment of that fear. Your skin crawling, you body tensing. Even if not fear inducing, you should be able to draw some enjoyment out of their presence on screen, otherwise you won't be able to enjoy the scene as much. 3. Flesh-out: A villain should have a personality. When you watch this villain, its best for the villain to have some semblance of personality, otherwise they come off as generic and one-note. They should also have a backstory. By knowing there backstory, you can find reason behind their actions, which can be all the more terrifying as it shows just how much they are off the deep end. For each Criteria, I will be awarding a maximum of 1 point. If they can score at least 2 points, then they are leaning more towards being good villains. If less than 2 points, then they are not good villains, and either need to be retooled/repaired, or disposed of. We're going to go in order of on-screen introduction: 1. Adam Taurus: Well, better to get this asshole out of the way now rather than latter. I'm going to admit right now, I hate Adam. So if I come across as overly critical, you know why. 1. Intimidation: Do I find Adam intimidating? ....... Yes and no. Adam himself I don't find intimidating, but when he comes on screen though, I do worry for other '''cast members, if only that when he shows up, someone usually gets stabbed. So it's not him I'm intimidated by, its the implications for other cast members that intimidates me. Points: 0.5 2. Entertaining: Do I find Adam entertaining? ..... Hell no. Adam I find to be a whiny edgelord that I want to punch in the face half the time. The other half of the time I just want to tear off that mask of his. (Seriously man, what the hell are you hiding behind that mask?! If it's just scars given by humans, why do you wear it even when talking with other WF members?! Is it that embarrasing for you? I swear RT better not pull a Kakashi and have another mask behind the first one.) I find no awe in fights he's in, he doesn't make the scene entertaining, he just pisses me off. Points: 0 3. Fleshed Out: Is Adam Fleshed out? .....No, no way in hell. Adam doesn't have a personality, he just has several character traits slapped together. He's a Faunus Supremecist, a Bastard Ex-Boyfriend, a sadistic jackass, a Massive Edgelord (Seriously, you can cut yourself with that edge) and as Blake put it, the Personification of Spite. That doesn't make him feel like a person, just a shadow of one. He also doesn't have a backstory at the moment. Repeatedly it's been mentioned that "Humanity wronged him", that he was hurt, but we still know none of it. So, no, he isn't fleshed out. Points: 0 Final Total: 0.5 Points. Final Verdict: Adam is '''not '''a good villain. Recommendation: Show more of his backstory/give some personality traits that make him feel like a person, or kill him off. ''2. Roman Torchwick'' Ah, now this is a villain I like. I was pissed off that he got killed in ''Heroes and Monsters, ''but after learning he was only meant to be a one-off villain originally, I at least appreciate what Roman brought to the table, and can at least look forward to seeing his more comedic moments in ''RWBY Chibi. '' 1. Intimidation: It's kinda hard to put down if I find Roman intimidating. I guess I do, but not for the reasons one would expect. Roman is a charismatic sociopath, and typically brings forth the comic relief in scenes with his attitude, but its the fact that beneath his quirky persona lies a ruthless mad man that becomes scary. Then there is the fact that none of the cast '''ever actually beat him in a straight up fight. '''He ran off after Glynda showed up, ran off when Penny started slaughtering WF mooks (not literally), was piloting a prototype Paladin which got destroyed by Yang, but still was up and kicking, and soon after losing to Blake, we learned he let himself get caught, so he probably let Blake win, and even before his death, he was beating Ruby before suddenly being swallowed. Discounting Blake as its possible he let her win, and the Paladin since that was more the robot they beat than him, no one ever really beat him in actual combat. Foiled a scheme or two? Yes. Faced him melee wise and beat him without possibility of the fight being thrown? No. Plus, the fact he did all this '''without ever unlocking his semblance. He was using pure skill and strategy in his fights and still pulled through. So yeah, he is intimidating. Points: 1 2. Entertaining: As I said earlier, Roman brought the comic relief a lot of times, even when the setting was dark. I mean, just look at him skipping over to the control panel and going all Deedee on it! And his fights are entertaining too. Look at him shooting through a Neo Illusion! Roman has this section down pat! Points: 1 3. Fleshed-Out: Is Roman fleshed out? Well... Yes and No. He cleary has a defined personality, and a damn good on at that. Unfortunately he doesn't really have a backstory. The closest we have to a backstory is Mercury telling Cinder to ask the rats in Beginning of the End. '' And it's a shame, because his little speech about the real world made me wonder just what he saw to gain that belief. So he's half fleshed out at least. Points: 0.5 Final Total: 2.5 Points. Final Verdict: Roman is a '''Good Villain'. 3. Cinder Fall: We now head to one of the more controversial characters among the FNDM, the Queen Bitch herself, Cinder Fall. 1. Intimidation: Cinder has this one down pat. For the first three volumes, this was gained via her mystery. We didn't really know who she was or what her deal was, but it was that mystery that made her intimidating. No matter how much it seemed her plans were being derailed, she was really playing a game that would make Xanatos proud. Come Volume 3 her intimidation source came from how ruthless she could be. How she orchestrated the Fall of Beacon, how she would kill anyone who gets in her way, and how her desire for power drove her. In Volume 4, her weakened state made her lose some intimidation, but its back in full swing with her slowly mastering her new powers, nearly completely healed, and the signs of being a tad unhinged and ready to roast Ruby to a crisp. So intimidation, thats assured. Points: 1 2. Entertaining: Cinder's fights I do enjoy, and I do find her interesting due to how much she kept me guessing in Volumes 1-3. Just when I thought I had something about her down, she kept me on my toes with new tricks, new schemes, etc. Her Volume 4 plot of trying to regain her strength and master her power was a tad slow, but it was still interesting to see her at the bottom of the totem pole instead of the top like she used to be. And Volume 5 has her set to confront Raven and Vernal, so that looks interesting too. So while not outright entertaining, she is interesting. Points: 0.7 3. Fleshed-out: This is where Cinder falls short. Cinder's personality, like Roman, is defined.... for the most part. With the events of Volume 3, Cinder's personality has taken a shift in that much of her confidence is gone, and her current personality, while similar to her old, still needs more time to develop. Such as her expressing fear in Tyrian mauling a Beowolf to death, yet having no remorse in roasting an illusionary Ruby (I guess this is terror at Tyrian being so unhinged but her murder boner for Ruby being too big to care?). As for Backstory, like Roman she doesn't really have much to go on. We only know from Beginning of the End ''that she wanted power, to be strong, to be feared, and that Salem promised her that power. But that's it. We know she's young, we know she was taken in by Salem, and if what she said during her speech is true, she came from Mistral. So personality wise, she's mostly fine, but backstory wise, nothing yet. Points: 0.4 Final Total: 2.1 points. Final Verdict: Cinder is a good villain, '''but just barely. '''Recommendation: Add a backstory to Cinder, and add a bit more flare to her fights. Give her some cool moves like that arrow triangle bomb she used on Amber, or find a way to combines her maiden powers with her weapon outside of just forming the weapons with them. '4. Emerald Sustrai:' Now we come to a mixed bag in my opinion. Emerald I do like, but as a villain......... I'm not sure. 1. Intimidation: Is Emerald intimidating to me? ....She isn't, her Semblance is. For a quick review on what her Semblance is, Emerald is able to create hallucinations that mess with a persons senses. She can make people see what isn't actually there. The only limitation is that her Semblance can only safely work on a single mind, more than one mind and Emerald will get headaches. Now, this is what I find intimidating, as alot of times we don't realize she even activated it until she already did. The only time we saw she used it before it was shown was in ''PvP', because by then we already knew what it did and it was a plot point. But the fact that if she is in the area, you can't even trust your senses..... that's what I find intimidating. Not Emerald herself, Emerald is just a snarking teenager. Points: 0.5 2. Entertaining: Do I find Emerald entertaining? ....Yes... I do. But not villainy wise. Emerald's most entertaining moments to me are when she isn't acting like a villain, but when acting like a teenager. Her little snarky moments like the blood comment to Coco and Yatsuhashi, her back and forth with Mercury, her cheerfulness at Cinder returning in the Volume 2 opener, and her little tongue stick at Roman when she stole his lighter. Emerald to me is more entertaining when she's acting like a teenager than as a villain. Fightwise, her fights are interesting. Her weapons being shot guns, sickles, and kusarigama, all in one offer numerous styles of fighting, whether close or ranged, and her hit and run tactics during her fight with Coco was an interesting fighting style, as before then all melee fighting styles took on some form of direct combat. Points: 0.7 3. Fleshed-Out: Emerald slightly suffers the same problem as Roman and Cinder, in that her backstory is kind of an unknown. We have more on her than them, but not much. Backstory wise, we know she was a Street Rat, a pickpocket and thief who stole to survive, up until Cinder found her and offered her a better life. But we don't know the circumstances that led up to her meeting Cinder. Did she know her parents? Did they abandon her? Were they murdered when she was too young to remember? Her image song I'm the One ''says she was "loved by no one", so that could imply she either was abandoned by her parents who didn't love her, or grew up not knowing them and assumed they didn't love her, whereas they could have just been murdered. So her backstory is known, but it isn't complete. Personality wise, she has that down pat. Like I said, she is snarky, eager to please Cinder, and can act like a teenager alot of time. She also however is fine with manipulating others to fit their goals, a bit of a pessimist seeing as RWBY's optimism pissed her off, but also expresses a bit of remorse towards the Fall of Beacon. She also doesn't seem to be a killer, as she never killed anyone herself, and her causing Penny's death is possibly rationalized by her thinking she isn't killing someone, just breaking a machine. This would make sense with her remorse at the fall as it could be what was "sad" was the numerous people dying. TL;DR: She has a personality and a backstory, but the backstory isn't complete. Points: 0.9 Final Total: 2.1 Points. Final Verdict: Emerald is a good villain, '''but just barely. '''Recommendations: Expand her backstory, and either make her more villainous, or have her perform a Heel-Face Turn, cause right now, she doesn't seem much like a villain to me, but rather a teenager who fell into a bad crowd. '5. Mercury Black: ''' Aw yeah, now we get to another Villain I like: You can't Irk the Merc! 1. Intimidation: Is Mercury intimidating to me? ....Yes and no. Mercury, like Roman, is a Sociopath. Unlike Roman's version of Sociopathy though, Mercury's just seems to be a lack of empathy. He treats everything like a game, and can be absolutely ruthless when playing, but when the worst action he himself has done on screen is killing Tukson, a one-off character, and his father in his backstory, which is easily understandable considering his backstory, he doesn't come off intimidating action wise. Yes, he did help in framing Yang to look like a psycho, but keep in mind, he himself didn't make her look like anything. He and Emerald merely took one of her more negative traits, her temper, and orchastrated an event that would cause the biggest reaction to that. The anger was there, they just made it noticeable. Even if Mercury really did attack Yang, she still shot him in the leg, rather than say, dodge it, and said "That's what you get" immeadiently afterwards, and had his leg been real and not a roboleg, she probably would have done serious damage. I am not demonizing Yang, I am however saying all Mercury and Emerald did was make her Temper work to their favor. Mercury's intimidation to me comes from him being unpredictable imo. Like I said, Mercury treats this like a game, and when playing a game, there will always be a move no one expects. He has no qualms with killing, will gladly go off script if it means him having fun, and that is what is intimidating. You can't guess what he is going to do. Points: 0.6 2. Entertaining: Do I even need to answer? ...Okay I will, there is a reason the FNDM came up with the "Law of Merc". Every fight Mercury takes part in is glorious, his handing of both Coco and Yatsuhashi's asses simultaneously, his keeping pace with Yang and only losing because he threw the fight (Note how Yang's Aura was just one hit away from red, and he walked away from Yang before she did the final blow instead of just kicking her one more time), his manuervers in his fight with Amber, even him just toying with Ruby was cool. His personality is entertaining too, he is constantly joking and having fun, he is gleefully cocky, he's a joker! Points: 1 3. Fleshed-Out: Out of all the Villains, Mercury has the most fleshed out backstory. His scene alone in Beginning of the End ''told the most about a Villains backstory, especially when combined with his comment about Qrow in ''Brawl in the Family ''and his portion of ''I'm the One. '' He is the son of an assassin who was not only an alcoholic, but an abusive asshole who would routinely beat him. The night he met Cinder, Mercury fought his father in the treeline before eventually managing to kill him, his house having been lit aflame and Mercury being left battered, bruised, and his legs bleeding profusely. He was then approached by Cinder and Emerald, who had been looking to hire his father, but Cinder settled for Mercury after finding his dad dead, Mercury only going along with it if he got something out of it. This backstory explains so much about him character wise! As he was raised to be an assassin, he would naturally need to have no qualms about killing! Afterall, what good is an assassin who has reservations about killing someone?! He treats this like a game because that is what it is to him! He is basically a hired hand, not a devotee like Emerald is to Cinder! And you know what they say, all work and no play makes Mercury a dull boy! He finds all this entertaining because to him this is just an average tuesday mixed with a bit of anarchy (The Fall of Beacon)! And his expression of horror at the Grimm Birthing Pits at Salem's castle? Because it wasn't what he signed on for! He signed on for a job that he thought was going to be fun, whereas what Salem is planning he doesn't consider fun! The only problem with his backstory is that two significant pieces are missing: The whereabouts of his mother, and when exactly he got the robolegs. Repeatedly his father is brought up, but never anything about his mom, and its clear she isn't in Mercury's life. So what happened to her? Did she die in child birth? Did she die when Mercury was young? Did his dad kill her? Did she walk out on them? The answer can significantly alter the way his backstory is perceived! The same for the Robolegs! When Cinder and Emerald met him, his legs were bleeding profusely, but in one spot mainly. So did he get the legs before, or after he met Cinder and Emerald? If before, that means his father either injured Mercury badly enough to warrant them, or operated on an unwilling Mercury and gave him the legs, and the blood was from a recent operation. If after, then that means that the fight messed up Mercury's legs so badly at that part they were rendered useless and he needed to replace them with the robolegs! Personality wise, I think I have made his clear.... but just in case, he is a joker, he's cocky, smug, a tad sadistic, and constantly acting like he's having fun! And while he's okay with killing, he isn't okay with what Salem is going for, meaning he does have standards. Points: 1 Final Total: 2.6. Final Verdict: Mercury is a '''good villain'! Note: Side-note, but despite Mercury being a Good Villain, I actually find him to have the highest chance of Redemption. Everyone talks about Emerald or Ilia being redeemable (And don't get me wrong, they are), but Mercury actually has the best chance IMO. Unlike Emerald, he doesn't have a personal stake in the villain's plan since this was basically a job for him, and unlike Ilia, he has no conflicting values with the heroes. Would the heroes be willing to accept him so easily though? Oh hell no, they pretty much hate him, and I have a feeling both Ruby and Yang would want to castrate him first, but right now, Mercury seems like the one with the most reasons to redeem himself. Yes, Ilia will more than likely redeem herself first, if she redeems herself at all, but hers will take a longer period of time. Hatred of humans doesn't go away overnight. But Mercury has the better odds in my book. '''''6. Neopolitan: Neo is.... confusing for me. 1. Intimidation: For Neo, I will say she is intimidating, but for an odd reason. It's not appearance wise, nor is it behavior wise. It's........ It's the lack on knowledge on her. We have no idea who the hell she is, and we only have a basic idea on how she fights (Lotta kicks, Illusion Semblance, Umbrella Sword). She's Roman's partner, but she actually comes across as more intimidating than him to me because I can't guess what she's gonna do, at all! '''She doesn't talk either, so we can't even get much of a personality. Normally, when a character has so little to them, they tend to just be bland. With Neo though... It's freaking creepy. We don't even know how old the little psycho is, and the only thing that's scared her is Raven, and given Raven's reputation on Anima, I could understand that... Plus there's the fact that according to the CRWBY, she is still out there somewhere, and just trying to think of her next move is headache inducing. Is she gonna pop outta nowhere and try to maim Ruby? Is she gonna go after Cinder? Is she stalking the Protagonists? It's just creepy..... Points: 1 2. Entertaining: Her fights are few and in between, but when she does step on stage, it gets crazy. Her mixing of illusions with fighting style leaves you wondering just whether or not someone is fighting her, and whether she is about to strike from behind, and gotta admit, the moves she makes when fighting are cool. Points: 1 3. Fleshed-Out: Now this is where her intimidation factor plays against her. We don't have much of a personality for Neo outside of smug and sadistic, and we have no idea as to any kind of backstory. She's close to Roman, but what is her Relationship to Roman exactly? Friend? Partner? Love Interest? Sister? Daughter? Niece? Third Cousin Twice Removed? And why doesn't she talk? Does she just choose not too? Is she mute? The closest we have is ''RWBY Chibi ''with the Sign Gag and her saying thats how she talks, but ''RWBY Chibi ''is barely canon (I saw barely because Ruby's birthday was introduced there, and is considered her canon Birthday). So while her lack of concrete character to her makes her more intimidating, it also cuts away from her being a character. Points: 0 Final Total: 2 Points. Final Verdict: Neo is a '''good villain, '''but just barely. Recommendation: Have her come back and give us some Character to her. While it may detract from the intimidation factor somewhat, there are ways to make her intimidating without it being her mystique. So that's it for the analysis on whether or not RWBY's villains are "Good" or "Bad", this part covering all the major villains debuting in Volume's 1-3, except Salem. I'll probably revisit this once Volume 5 ends and make any changes, and start on the other villains around the same time. For now though, One Villain sucks hard, Two are Good Villains, and Three just make the cutoff. '''REMEMBER THOUGH, THIS IS MY OPINION, NOT FACT, SO TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. If you like my thoughts or have anything to say, leave a comment below. Till next time, I'm KingFubuki92, and I'll see ya round the Wiki. Category:Blog posts